The Genius meets the Gamer
by Trannon1
Summary: Post Despair AU. Hajime does not reatain his memory and wakes up as Kamukura Izuru. As he tries to escape, he encounters a certain AI girl.
1. Chapter 1

**I just saw this picture one day, and then I knew, I got to write a story about them. **

I woke up from my sleep, and found myself in a pod. For a single moment, I was confused, but now I remembered, I uploaded Junko's Ai into the Neo World Program. So it worked, just as I expected it to. Outside my pod, a boy with brown hair and a green jacket approached. He opened it and asked me a question.

_What is your name?_

Without hesitation, I answered.

"Kamukura Izuru."

And I attacked. Even with my malnourished body, I lunged out and knocked him out by head-butting his jaw. As I ran out of the room, I heard some cries for me to stop. From what I can surmise, this is probably the base of the Future Foundation, and as such, the lair of my enemy.

A pink-haired boy tried to block me, but I kicked him in his privates, and left him screaming on the ground. Another boy wearing an eye-patch aimed for me with a wooden sword, but I moved into his blind spot near his eyes patch and knocked him out with a punch. Another girl, wearing an unbuttoned T-shirt came at me with some fantastic physical motions, but after watching them once, I was able to get used to them and avoid them. Seeing her shocked face was exhilarating, for a moment anyways. I got bored immediately, and I walked pass her while dodging all her attacks. This ease at accomplishing anything is the mark of the Super High School Level Hope, the genius hidden in the darkness of Hope's Peak. This was ridiculously boring now, and I ended it by pressing the pressure point in her neck, something normally of insane difficulty. Noticing the sound of pursuit, I entered the nearest doorway and locked myself in.

As I heard them pounding at the door, I quickly went to the controls to try to figure a way out of this situation. And then I was blocked out of the system, and a face popped out on all the screens. It was the face of a girl with pink hair wearing a cat hoodie. She was astonishingly beautiful, and I found myself lost in that face.

"Who… are you?"

She shook her head, and looked towards the door. Immediately, the door unlocked itself, and she started to disappear.

"Wait!"

The door burst open and I felt a needle hit my neck. As I fell unconscious, I kept thinking of her face.

Her smile that looks troubled, yet a little sad… I thought to myself… to think someone as beautiful as her exists. I feel like… someone that beautiful existed in my life before…

**I am going to make this multi-chapter if people show interest in this. Well, hopefully anyways.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Izuru has some broken fragments of his memories from the island. But at the same time, he can't tell which of his memories are real and which aren't due to the experiment that wiped his identity.**

I woke up from darkness the second time, and found myself bound to a chair. Surrounding me were the brown-haired boy with a green jacket from earlier, that inelegant pink-haired boy with sharp teeth, the mafia-looking boy, that athletic girl, and a blonde regal-looking girl who looks like a fairy-tale princess. The pink-haired boy, the mafia boy, and the athletic girl all looked angry and vengeful, to which I gave a smirk, causing them to look even angrier. The blonde girl and the brown-hair boy on the other hand, both looked worried when they looked at me.

This only held my interest for less than 3 seconds, before my thoughts returned to that pink-haired girl. Who was she, and why is she dominating my thoughts? I was jerked from my thoughts when the brown-haired boy spoke.

"Are you okay?"

"I want to see that pink-haired girl."

He was stumped, and looked at me, wondering what I was talking about.

"Err, who might you be talking about?"

I start to wonder whether this guy is stupid or slow.

"I want to see that pink-haired girl."

This blonde girl came forward and asked, "Hajime-kun, what is going on? Why are you acting this way?"

Hajime? Who is that? An image of a brown-haired boy with a stupid spike on top of his head flahsed into my mind. Strange, I have never sene this person before. He must have been especially insignificant to not be remembered by me. Not that it matters, because I have no interest in anything in the world.

"I want to see that pink-haired girl."

"This is interesting. From the profile we have on Kamukura Izuru, he has the title of Ultimate Hope, being the experimental genius who can single-handedly replace all the SHSL talents. However, due to his great talent at doing anything, he lost interest in everything in the world and so fell into despair. But now, he is interested in something. Perhaps, this is a good thing."

This came from a blond elite-looking boy wearing glasses who just entered the room.

"If he wants to see her so much, we can let him see her I suppose", he continues.

The brown-haired boy immediately started arguing with him, but in my mind, I was thinking that there was nothing else I would rather do. As I thought that, I feel back into darkness.

* * *

I could hear the sounds of waves, and smell the scent of the tropics. Strangely enough, I could hear no sounds of birds or anything else that would usually accompany the tropics.

"Hey, hey. Are you okay?"

I heard that voice, and opened my eyes. And my breath hitched as I caught sight of her, sitting by me. She was tapping away at a game, eyes on it.

My body acted on its own, and hugged her before I was aware of my actions. Startled, I jumped back, and took in her expression when she turned to look at me. As I caught sight of that sad smile, my heart ached for a moment. Quickly, to try to get rid of the strange mood, I spoke.

"I am Kamukura Izuru, ex-SHSL Hope, now SHSL Despair."

"SHSL Gamer, my name is-"

"Nanami Chiaki."

Where did that come from? Somehow, that named flashed into my mind when I heard her title. I could see from her surprised expression that I was right. Perhaps, this feeling that I met her before, it was true? For the first time since I was born as Kamukura Izuru, I took interest in my lost memories. Who is she to me? Why does my body act this way when I see her? Making up my mind, I spoke.

"If it does not trouble you, I would like to stay with you for a while."

"... It will probably be alright, I think."

After a long pause, she said that. At that moment, the smile she gave me filled me with something I have not felt for the longest time. It was hope.

**As a beginning writer, having even one review fills me with so much happiness. Now I understand how writers can go on even in solitude. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Some people will recognize this. Some won't. Regardless, I hope you enjoy.**

"…"

Izuru was totally dumbfounded by what he is seeing. The girl in front of him, is sleeping while standing up? She looked extremely cute, especially with that little bubble coming out of her nose. But, is this even humanely possible?

*Pop*

"Sorry, when I'm gaming I tend to forget about sleeping. Sometimes I even forget to breathe."

"…"

Ok. This game is over, is what I want to say, but it is too soon to give up. I manage to pull myself together.

"Have you been sleeping badly?"

She tilted her head for a moment, then replied.

"I've been having nightmares. The statue at Jabberwock Island changed into a bald old man with a thin moustache."

Trio the Punch? Perhaps that was what turned her mind into the mess it is in right now. Giant men with huge heads isn't a good sign, after all.

"You must really like games."

Well, she is the ultimate gamer after all. Well, it is too much to call Trio the Punch a real game. It is more like a torture device. Back when Mistress Junko was around, I'm pretty sure she made some people play the game till they became insane.

"I like it, but gaming is my life. Or maybe life is just a game?"

"Definitely. Life is a game where people are born either with the means to be successful, or crawl their way up into being successful."

Regardless of your efforts, hard work will only get you so far. No matter how hard a sheep wishes to fly freely in the sky, it cannot fly like the eagle. A genius will always have a natural advantage over normal people. For someone like me, life is the most boring thing ever.

"You are wrong, Kamukura. It's not a game if you're not having fun. It doesn't mean anything if you just focus on winning or losing."

"…"

I really cannot understand her words. Life never has total happy endings. Just because you beat the game, doesn't mean that you can get something from it. In fact, most of the time, what you do in life is useless for living.

"There might be weird games here and there, but there are ways of enjoying those, too. That's why bizarre games are fun. You can beat them as long as you do your very best."

Really? I find that she is too optimistic. Most people would just give up when they are unable to play a game well. And those who play it too easily will get bored of it and give up too.

"I find it difficult to believe that you can understand that feeling, since you are the Ultimate Gamer. No game would be difficult for you. You cannot understand the feelings of the weak."

She puffed out her cheeks after that slipped my mouth. Almost like a chipmunk, it almost made me smile.

"To tell you the truth, there's one type of game that I'm not really good at."

This was very surprising. The Ultimate Gamer has a weakness in a game? Perhaps this weakness is what gives her something to strive for, which allows her to hope.

"I see, what is it?"

She immediately wore her hood. I guess that is when she is troubled?

"I won't tell you."

Instant reply?!

"Not yet at least. You have to earn more relationship points and raise a few flags before I can tell you."

She chuckled, and inside, I vowed that I will raise those flags for sure. That sounds like those dating sims I have heard about. That said, I am sure, if my life was a game, it would definitely be a mystery/tragedy game.

**Those who recognize this will know that it is Chiaki's first Free-Time Event. Engineered in Izuru's despair outlook.**


End file.
